Shopping For An iPad? Bring Some Rubber Gloves

Even though I’m not quite sure why someone would want to spend so much money on one, it is a fact that millions of people want to get their hands on an iPad, if only just to test it out. And that appears to be the problem, with a new NY Daily News investigation turning up some icky results from swab tests on the handheld devices.

Reporters covertly used medical swabs to collect samples from demo iPads at the flagship Apple store in Midtown Manhattan and the recently opened one in the always sanitary-sounding Meatpacking District. They then sent those swabs on to a lab to test for bacteria.

Writes the News:

One sample, collected at the 14th St. store, contained Staphylococcus aureus, the most common cause of staph infections, which can lead to an array of ailments, from minor skin infection to meningitis…

A sample taken in the Fifth Ave. location registered Candida parapsilosis, a type of yeast, and Corynebacterium minutissimum, a bacteria commonly associated with skin rash. Both can cause infections, especially in people with weak immune systems or pre-existing conditions.

Additionally, one of the iPads contained “benign, skin-borne microbes,” but in such high quantity as to question the device’s cleanliness.

An Apple mouthpiece rushed to the stores’ defense:

We clean our products and our stores regularly throughout the day… And we are committed to creating a healthy environment for our customers.

What do you think? Should this be expected for such a high-traffic product? Should Apple consider having a dispenser of hand sanitizer stationed next to the iPad for concerned customers?